"Our business will be until I'm a grown up. And then I'll do it with my children!"

- Amalia, Age 6, President, NYC Lovey Repair

Friday, November 30, 2012

*THIS* is why we do Lovey Repair!

Check out this video of Dolly meeting E at the school bus for their reunion after three long days apart. This is absolutely the cutest thing we've seen in a super long time!


Thanks for the video - it made our day! We're so glad you're home, Dolly!!!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Leapin' Leppy!

Leppy the Leopard came to see us all the way from Virginia because his Owner wanted to get him ready to play with her little boys!

Leppy is extra special cause he's filled with ground walnut shells. The best part about this filling is that it makes him extra posable!

Nervous Leppy

Thoughtful Leppy

Gymnast Leppy

Sad Leppy

Such special filling needs to be saved, so we carefully removed it,


gave Leppy his bath,

So relaxing!

and then we made a funnel to get him restuffed!


After a good brushing, Leppy's all ready to fly home and play!

 Content Leppy!

 Thanks for coming over Leppy - you're adorable!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Getting Dolly Back on her Feet!

Dolly's Owner E is 5 years old, but don't even think of trying to pull anything over on her.  

Sure, Dolly's feet needed some fixing.

Ok, a lot of fixing.

But E and Dolly are in Pittsburgh and we're in Brooklyn.

What's a Dolly to do?

E was skeptical but Dolly's foot was getting danglier by the day! So, we worked with E's mommy, hatched a plan, and Dolly arrived this morning via Fedex:

Hello, Dolly!

Rather than fix Dolly's feet, we gave her new ones super fast. 

Ta da!

Dolly is already back in the safe hands of the Fedex man, and will arrive in Pittsburg tomorrow!  3 days total of no Dolly?  E's a trooper!  

E, we think you must be a wonderful mommy to Dolly to love her so much she needed to come to see us. Just so you know, we used a really strong fabric so hopefully you'll have many more years of loving Dolly before she needs to see us again.  

Thanks for letting Dolly come for a visit!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Darth's Sweater

Darth came in with a serious problem with his delicate paws. They were shredded!


So we wove in some new thread, and he was good as new.

Don't I have amazing eyes??

But that wasn't the most fun part.  See, Darth came fully clothed but his outfit needed some laundering.  Amalia saw right away that there was a wash to be done, so whisked away Darth's outerwear. After a gentle hand wash and a dry on the cozy radiator, Darth's ready for today's snow!

Unfortunately, Darth, we're not sure you live up to your evil namesake in that fetching sweater.  Time to come leave the dark side, right?

Right.

Did we mention we also knitted him a scarf?

We did.

Thanks for stopping in, Darth.  May the force be with you!





Thursday, November 22, 2012

Straightening Out Chockit

Amalia's first all-on-her-own (photography! writing!) blog post. Lots of dictionary use. A few comma questions. So fun! - Ed.

Chockit needed a spa day. He had wires in his antlers but they were all crinkled up.

And he was dirty.  

Yuck. 

So we gave him a bath, and then we fixed his antlers!


That was poking me! Now it feels better.

All done.  Thank you for straightening me out!


Happy Thanksgiving Chockit!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Potbelly Decides he Likes Lovey Repair!

Potbelly wasn't so sure he needed a visit to Lovey Repair.

I like my lumpy insides, and the hole in my arm isn't THAT bad.

And did I mention I hate baths?

'Cause I do.

It's OK, Potbelly - you just need a little scrub...

 Tee hee!

And a soak...

Ahhh...

Then some stitching and restuffing, and a gentle brushing.  Now, isn't that better?

 Yes, yes it is!

Thank you for coming over and letting us take care of you, Potbelly!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

You want to send her WHERE??? (Part 2!)

Last we left Yellow, she was adamantly staying in California.

I'm perfectly comfortable thanks for asking now go away.

Yellow needed some help since she was so loved she wasn't going to last too much longer.

Ouch.

But Yellow and her kiddo owner S would not be swayed, so we did what any Lovey Repair team would do - we coached S's mom through a long-distance repair!

S's mom is a total trooper. It's one thing for us to help a Lovey and another thing entirely for a mommy to take apart and reassemble someone as special as Yellow.  Did we mention that this all happened while S was at school?  We were under a time crunch, and S's mom rose to the challenge.

We helped prepare for the big day by first sending a batch of our favorite stuffing to California:

Too much?  Probably, but better safe than sorry!

Then S's mom got to work!  First, a little bath...


Then some sunbathing!


We had devised a plan where S's mom would iron on some interfacing to strengthen the seams and then sew Yellow up, stuff her, and then they'd be done!  

But instead we got a panicky email from S's mom:
In the process of gently removing her stuffing and bathing her, lots of seams came apart.  I knew it was only a matter of time before she fell apart. So I am done with all of the interfacing and now I am sewing seams from inside and reinforcing others.  My sister picked up my girls and is keeping them out for a pizza dinner.  That gives me a couple more hours to work on Yellow...
Did we mention she's a trooper?? We've never been under the gun quite like that! At least S and her sister got a pizza dinner out of the deal!

After another wait, word came - Yellow was done!
S was not sure that she was happy about the new and improved Yellow (clean, no holes, stuffed). But once we told her that Yellow looked like when she was a baby, she was astonished. She couldn't believe what a difference all of the years made.... They are both in bed now arm in arm :). It's so sweet! 
 Yellow, new and improved!

S's mom, you are officially a deputized Lovey Repairer! Congratulations from all of us (Yellow included!) on a job well done!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Jaunty Joey!

Joey the clown is such a loved Lovey his face wore right off (and some of his neck and body too!)

Hard to be a happy clown without a twinkle in one's eye.


Or in Joey's case, an eye at all:


Joey got a bath and some interfacing to strengthen his seams.  Then restuffing and patching, including a jaunty scarf to add some strength to his neck. Then it was time for the facelift!  

We headed to the fabric store to get some felt and appliquéd a fresh set a features for little Joey!


You handsome devil.

Oh Joey, you look divine.  Thank you for stopping in!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Time for Another Clinic!

Does your Lovey need a pick-me-up?

Yes. Yes I do.

Then come on by tomorrow - we'll be spending tomorrow working on Loveys!

Just need to run to the store to get a few things.

Contact us to make an appointment.  Not a good day?  We'll find a time that works!

See you tomorrow!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Dear Tooth Fairy: A Business Proposition

While we don't usually focus on non-Lovey repair stories, tonight Amalia had a reasonable inquiry for the Tooth Fairy.

She lost her front tooth today, and in the traditional accompanying letter she asked if the Tooth Fairy read the news.

"Why do you ask?" I asked.

Because if she did, reasoned Amalia, then she would have heard of Lovey Repair.  "And if she's heard of Lovey Repair, maybe she would want to bring us any broken Loveys she finds."  She continued that the Tooth Fairy would bring them to us for overnight repair. And we would, of course, finish the job with plenty of time for the Tooth Fairy to return the Lovey before the young owner woke up.

Right, mom?

Right.


The Tooth Fairy did leave a 1935 half-dollar and a note back.  But I haven't ready it yet :)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Gentle Joey: an Update!

Just a little update on little Joey the Clown. It's been a week of appliqué and detailed patching, and we're having so much fun! We're almost there - hang in there, Joey!

Joey before:


and during:
New rosy cheeks!

The bow tie is a bit of a test. Since Joey's neck is threadbare we needed something to reinforce it, so this might do the trick!

Stay tuned for Joey's debut!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Lookin' Good, Harvey!

Harvey flew all the way from California after a puppy became a bit too affectionate.  He was in pretty sad shape so when he first appeared on the Lovey Repair blog, we only gave you a peek.

Ha.

Poor, poor Harvey.  We know from past experience that pets go straight for the face.

Ow.

Not only did the puppy chew out his eyes, but he gave them quite a nibble. Harvey needed a fresh pair of peepers, an eye-patching, and since we had him here, a bath! 

The bath came first, and then a decision - was this the correct new eye size for Harvey?

 
A little bigger, but so shiny and new!

Then we had to test it out:

 Looking good!

Once we had the eyes selected it was time to patch up that giant hole on his right side.  There wasn't enough fabric left to just stitch it so we needed to graft it from somewhere. And that somewhere was his back seam!  We had opened the seam anyway for his restuffing and bath, and all it took was a little fabric trim - you can't even tell!

See? Didn't hurt a bit!

With some careful stitching, Harvey was back to his old self!

Did you know I could smile? My Owner did!!

Thanks for being such a good patient, Harvey!  We know there's a little girl in California who can't wait to see you, and we're pretty sure you feel the same!


Friday, November 9, 2012

It's a Full House!

We don't have any completed repairs to share today because so many Loveys are in progress! So, for our loyal Lovey Owners (and readers), here's a little status report on how things are progressing:

First, Cuddles is patiently waiting for a quiet evening of needle work:

Are you tired?  I'm tired.  Wanna cuddle?

He's a delicate soul so we're not planning on doing anything more than some suturing and perhaps some dry foam cleaning.  Sit tight, Cuddles, you're on the list.

Then there's Hearty the blankie, who is also being patient, waiting for us to get the perfect eyelet lace for his edges.


He's hanging out with Cuddles, and we think they make a perfect pair.

Next, Cholly Dolly is under discussion:

I am?

Our instruction was to create a new lovey for a new baby out of two extremely loved Cholly Dollys.  Amalia is advocating for a replica, so we did some research:

A Cholly Dolly in its prime!

We'll come to some decisions this weekend and then get the necessary fabric.  It's hard to find a match for gingham (though it is Amalia's new favorite word - gingham-gigham-gigham) so we may opt for a light blue.  We'll see.

Joey the Clown is here and has been fully washed and re-lined.  Now we need to get some felt to rebuild his face!


The original felt was glued on, but we may stitch the felt this time for a softer feel.

Next there's Harvey the bunny, who arrived today. In three parts.




We'll show you two of them.




Brace yourself:








Gasp.

Oh Harvey - it'll be ok.  We're gonna get you all cleaned up and get those eyes back in your face.  It's a speciality of ours!

And, last but not least, Yellow. We sent the perfect fluff off to Yellow's Owner yesterday:


It arrived today (despite the Nor'easter!) and we're just waiting for the right time to get going on our long-distance repair! UPDATE! Yellow's all better! 

So, that's the latest from Lovey Repair headquarters - stay tuned for the end of the stories!

Photo credit: Toyz Dollz